Auto manufacturers have developed systems to aid in vehicle stability, such as variable ride height suspension systems, anti-lock braking systems and electronic stability control systems.
Auto manufacturers are further developing automobiles having alternative power sources to internal combustion engines. Electrical vehicles having rechargeable batteries and hybrid vehicles using both internal combustion engines and electric motors for driving the vehicle are becoming available. Electrochemical fuel cells are also being developed to serve as an alternate source of electricity for powering electric drive motors of an automobile. An electrochemical fuel cell contains a membrane sandwiched between electrodes. One preferred fuel cell is known as a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell, in which hydrogen (H2) is used as a fuel source or reducing agent at an anode electrode and oxygen (O2) is provided as the oxidizing agent at a cathode electrode. During operation of the fuel cell, electricity is garnered by electrically conductive elements proximate to the electrodes via the electrical potential generated during the reduction-oxidation reaction occurring within the fuel cell. For on-board vehicle fuel cell systems, the hydrogen can be stored in a pressurized tank that is typically between full fuel (for example, 10,000 p.s.i.) and low fuel (for example, 500 p.s.i.), depending upon the amount the tank is filled and the fuel is consumed.